Bringing Attention to Community College Programs for Low-Income Students
MDRC - Issue Focus
The Education Writers Association recently hosted a two-day meeting for 30 working journalists. The stated purpose was to give daily reporters an opportunity to learn from experts about community colleges.
The real goal, though, was to persuade the reporters that community colleges were even worth covering, because most education reporters --- and editors --- see their work as focused strictly on the K-12 beat --- and, occasionally, on the four-year college beat.
The readers of Community College Week hardly need to be told that community colleges are doing good work.
The general public, however, is largely unaware that community colleges enroll nearly half of all students in higher education --- more than 11 million annually.
Keeping students in school and on track remains a real quandary for community colleges.
MDRC is conducting several such studies with the support of major foundations and the federal government.
